By Rob Hardwicke, Awakening Mineral Skin Care Recently, my spouse commented over dinner that her skin was abnormally dry. Since our family is deeply into the art of formulating unique skin care solutions for “active person skin issues” such as dry skin, eczema, etc., the very thought that a family member might have a dry […]

Recently, my spouse commented over dinner that her skin was abnormally dry. Since our family is deeply into the

A woman’s dry skin can be the result of many causes.

art of formulating unique skin care solutions for “active person skin issues” such as dry skin, eczema, etc., the very thought that a family member might have a dry skin problem was not what I ever expected to hear! Kind of like the old adage of the “cobbler’s children having no shoes to wear”. In this instance, we needed to focus on dry skin solutions for women and do it quickly (or I would be in big trouble with my own spouse)!

Maryann is in her mid-60’s and Autumn was starting to set in, so there could be numerous forces in play. First, the weather. We live the San Francisco Bay Area, so it really never gets very cold, and with California’s ongoing drought, it sure ain’t cold this year. So we had to scratch the most likely cause of dry skin — the onset of winter — as improbable.

Given her age, menopause and all of the mischief that life-change can wreak could be an issue, if not “the” issue. But Maryann’s dry skin issue seemed to have arisen well beyond the onset of hot flashes and all of the other joys of hormones in transition. So we classified age as a ‘contributory’ factor, but not ‘the’ factor.

Given that she is a member of our family and therefore is full habituated to the daily use of the great mineral-based, vegan skin care creams and lotions that we make, her dry skin for sure hadn’t arisen because Maryann was neglecting her skin. In truth, what she was calling ‘dry skin’ upon inspection most likely would be considered ‘normal mature skin’ by the rest of humanity! In any case, she felt the condition was becoming a problem, so we needed a solution.

Any new cleaning products being used? Nope, only green products. Smoke in the air? Nope, despite the fact that most of California seems to be on fire these days. Changes in diet? Nope, we operate with a really super selection of “good choice” foods. Changes in heredity? Rather hard to make changes in heredity after one has been born! Post-partum body shock? Not hardly; unless a biblical level of fertility suddenly had come into play!

My Mom, Mima Hardwicke (right) at age 96 with her cousin.

So, with most of the usual suspects for dry skin ruled out, we consulted our 5th edition of Prescription of Nutritional Healing, a telephone book-sized “reference guide for drug-free remedies using vitamins, minerals, herbs & food supplements”. [Ok, I’m a dyed-in-the-wool, multi-generational Californian who was raised by a pair of vitamin freaks: A Mom who lived into her active 101st year of life. and who, thanks to her willingness to serve as Awakening’s guinea pig for skin cream testing, had nearly zero facial wrinkles — the image to the right is of her just after her 96th birthday]. But this book is invaluable. We were introduced to it many years ago by the spouse of a long-standing member of a venerable mens’ motorcyle organization (aka ‘gang’) in neighboring Oakland, CA — motorcycling gentlemen who had fallen in love with our non-greasy, non-leather-marring hand therapy balm, Awakening HANDS.

Listed in the book’s section on ‘dry skin’, nutrients affecting the condition were categorized into a hierarchy of three classes: “Very Important”, “Important” and “Helpful”.

Sure enough, Maryann and I found that about 10 months prior, she had backed off taking two nutrients, Primrose oil (500 mg daily) and Vitamin A (25,000 IU daily) — both considered as “Very Important” in avoiding dry skin. When we looked at the nutrients she was taking daily, it turned out that Vitamin A was only 12,500 IU and that Primrose oil wasn’t being taken at all.

Consequently, with Primrose oil and the full 25,000 IU of Vitamin A added across her morning and evening supplements, and with her applying a thin layer of Awakening BODY to her entire body twice daily, and Awakening FACE&Neck applied each morning, Maryann’s dry skin issue has nearly disappeared after only two weeks. My guess is that in another month, her skin will be totally hydrated and smooth even with the onset of slightly colder winter weather.

Of course, body and skin chemistry are different for every one of us, and there are times when consulting a health practitioner about a skin problem is the best course of action. Taking food supplements and vitamins are a way of life for us, but, for example, Vitamin A is one of those substances that can be toxic if taken in too large a dosage, so we always error on the side of too little rather than too much. This sort of precaution is even more important if it’s a child who’s experiencing the skin problem.

The lesson we (re)learned with Maryann’s sudden shift towards dry skin? Skin condition causes are multifaceted: They are a combination of heredity (an inclination towards psoriasis, for example), vitamin deficiency (as in Maryann’s shortage of Primrose oil’s linoleic acid, an essential fatty acid needed by the skin, and Vitamin A with its mixed carotenoids which strengthen and protect skin tissue), poor nutrition (just try living with a diet high in refined sugar and salty-crunchy junk foods and see what happens to your skin!!), and the use of natural skin care products, such as those that we make here at Awakening.

By Robert Hardwicke, Product Master, Awakening Mineral Skin Care All of us hear many things written about “good fats” and “good oils”. Also “bad fats” and “bad oils”. While you may not always be able to discern the difference between the good and the bad, your skin can! The one ingredient none of us never […]

All of us hear many things written about “good fats” and “good oils”. Also “bad fats” and “bad oils”. While you may not always be able to discern the difference between the good and the bad, your skin can!

Would you use just any old oil on your skin?

The one ingredient none of us never wants to see on any product’s list of ingredients is “mineral oil”. It’s cheap. It’s slimy. It’s relatively ineffective, and it’s something that our company never, ever uses.

Instead, we look for oils rich in Omega-3 fatty acids and antioxidants.

The fatty acids in oils can be saturated or unsaturated. Oils with saturated fats are more stable, so they will last longer, but oils with unsaturated fats & oils are more costly, smoother on the skin, less greasy and better absorbed. Unsaturated oils include olive, almond, avocado and sunflower oils, Saturated oils include cottonseed, palm and coconut.

Omega-3 fatty acids are used by the skin to reduce inflammation, maintain healthy membranes and promote collogen. Antioxidant oils help to prevent free-radical damage and facilitate the maintenance of collagen and elastin. Oils can help hydrate the skin as well as rein in eczema.

Our favorite oils (and the ones most often used in our skin care line’s formulations) include:

Rosehip seed oil (Rosa rubiginosa: This oil is rich is essential fatty acids — lineoleic acid (also known as Omega-6) and lineolenic (also known as Omega-3), natural retinol (Vitamin A) and the antioxidant, Vitamin C. We extract this oil by cold-press and use it to help treat dry, irritated, weathered skin conditions.

Chamomile flower oil (Chamomilla Recutita) : This flower contains a number of complex chemical compounds such as alpha-bisabolol with its antiseptic and anti-inflammatory properties, and umbelliferone, which has been found to be fungistatic. We use it for its emollient and anti-inflammatory benefits.

Avocado fruit oil (Persea americana): ‘Good’ for guacamole but ‘great’ for the skin. This oil is extremely emollient and easily absorbed into the deeper layers of the dermis. Thanks to its superior moisturizing properties, it helps to relieve the dryness and itching of eczema and psoriasis. Rich in sterolins, avocado oil softens skin, helps heal sun damage and scars, and increases the amount of collagen in the skin. This oil is rich in Viamins A, B1, B2, D, E and Beta caroteine.

Grape seed oil (Vitis vinifera): This oil carries a light, satin-like finish on the skin and is a powerhouse of antioxidants, thanks largely to the fact that it is 78% linoleic acid with other antioxidants in the form of polyphenois. High levels of Vitamin C help to brighten the skin. Resveratrol aids the body with anti-aging properties. We use this wonderful oil in our skin care products for body, face, hands and feet, but especially in our product for the health of the scalp.

Tea tree leaf oil (Melaleuca alternifolia): This is the oil for oily skin — that is, it’s an oil that not only is healing for blemishes, but transforms on the skin to a non-greasy, non-oily condition. Tea tree oil also is antiseptic, antibacterial and antifungal.

Lavender flower oil (Lavandula angustifolia): Lavender is believed to be effective against bacteria and fungi on the skin. It also is one of the most active essential oils against MRSA (Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus — a hard to treat type of staph bacteria). UV radiation damages skin because it leads to the generation of free radicals, against which the body has a limited supply of protective antioxidant enzymes. Even worse, these enzymes tend to decrease with age, making older skin more vulnerable to oxidate stress. It appears that lavender oil on the skin reduces these aging effects of UV sunlight.

Cinnamon leaf oil (Cinnamomum cassia): We love this oil as it’s warm and stimulating, and we use it in a number of our products. It brings to bear very strong anti-inflammatory properties on skin health. It also is considered to be an analgesic, antiseptic, antibiotic and astringent. Redness is reduced and blood circulation is improved through the use of this oil.

Rosemary leaf oil (Rosemarinus officinalis): Rosemary oil contains a host of biologically active compounds with antioxidant and anti-aging properties. It is one of the most beneficial oils for the care of skin. Rosemary oil’s skin regenerative and wound healing properties make it especially effective in the treatment of chronic skin issues such as eczema.

Peach kernel oil (Prunus persica): This is classified as a ‘medium-weight oil’ in the skin care business and serves as an excellent emollient. It contains fatty acids that are both nourishing and conditioning.

Jojoba seed ‘oil’ (Simmondsia chinensis): While we — and just about every other skin care formulator — speak of Jojoba as an oil, it actually is a very skin-friendly wax. Chemically, waxes are esters of a fatty acid and a fatty alcohol, and since that’s how Jojoba is used, it therefore is a wax. Jojoba is very similar your own skin sebum and your skin’s own lubricating medium; hence, jojoba holds a natural affinity to the skin and scalp. It has exceptional skin-softening properties and is helpful at minimizing fine line wrinkling.

Lemon peel oil (Citrus medica limonum): Lemon oil contains antibacterial elements and helps to soothe itchiness. We use it to brighten skin and as an astringent to improve oily skin conditions. Lemon peel oil also is helpful for skin disruptions such as eczema and acne.

Lemongrass oil (Cymbopogon citratus): Lemongrass oil is first and foremost an exceptional aroma, but as an ingredient in skin care, it is both a preservative and an anti-fungul agent (and, if you happen to be a honeybee, lemongrass is a potent pheromone to lure you back to the hive!).

Sunflower seed oil (Helianthus annus): Sunflower oil is a monounsaturated mixture of mostly oleic acid (Omega-9) and linoleic acid (Omega-6), and is rich in vitamins A, D and E. This oil helps the skin retain its moisture and creates a protective barrier against infection.

Peppermint leaf oil (Mentha piperita): Peppermint oil contains menthol, menthone, menthyl acetate and menthofuran. The menthol activates cold-sensitive TRPM8 receptors in the skin and creates a cooling sensation. Applied to the skin, this oil can be effective in treating myalgia and neuralgia.

Thyme leaf oil (Thymus vulgaris): As with myrrh, thyme is an effective embalming fluid, but that is not why we use it when formulating skin care products! Thyme contains a full range of compounds, in addition to its principal component, thymol, that includes myrcene, borneol, linalool and p-Cymene. But thyme’s greatest value in our products is that it is both an antiseptic and a stimulent for scalp tissue for the maintenance of hair health.

Ginger root oil (Zingiber officinale): This oil is rarely used in skin care products, but we have found it to be very useful as an astringent in our hand cream. It also helps to enhance circulation and contains anti-aging properties.

Yerba Maté (Ilex paraguariensis): This so-called “liquid vegetable” is probably more ‘extract’ than ‘oil’. We like it because it stimulates and rejuvenates skin. It contains 24 vitamins and minerals (A, C, E, B1, B2, Niacin (B3), B5 along with calcium, manganese, iron, selenium, potassium, magnesium and phorphorus), 15 amino acids and 11 polyphenosis (a cluster of phytochemicals that act as powerful antioxidants). We use Yerba Maté in our top-of-the-line moisturizing, anti-aging, antioxidant cream for the face and neck.

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Awakening Mineral Skin Care is a boutique formulator of nature-derived, vegan skin care products utilizing concentrated mineral crystals isolated from the Dead Sea, essential oils and botanical extracts. With only a few exceptions, we call our products by what they do: Awakening HANDS treats hands, Awakening FEET treats feet, Awakening BODY treats bodies, Awakening SCALP treats scalps — you get the idea. However Awakening MUDFace is mud for the face (and feet!) — so, as with 9th grade English, there are always exceptions to every rule!

By Rob Hardwicke, Product Master, Awakening Mineral Skin Care The “Big C“! — skin cancer. Basal cell? Squamous cell? Melanoma? As a sun-baked-Baby-Boomer, just the thought of skin cancer can put fear into the heart. All those many hours/weeks/months/years paddling around in the surf or flaked out on the beaches here in California, worshipping Ra, […]

The “Big C“! — skin cancer. Basal cell? Squamous cell? Melanoma? As a sun-baked-Baby-Boomer, just the thought of skin cancer can put fear into the heart. All those many hours/weeks/months/years paddling around in the surf or flaked out on the beaches here in California, worshipping Ra, the sun god! Long before SPF was even acknowledged, there was olive oil and baby oil to create that golden French fry tan. Being

The annual “Full Body Check” ritual!

blue-eyed and fair skinned just upped the ante for me in terms of risk. To be cool, tanned and healthy-look was the objective. But there’s something called the “Law of Unintended Consequences” — an outcome neither intended nor desired.

So, for a very long time now, I’ve visited my dermatologist annually for a full-body check. That’s what I was doing this morning. A ritual “search & destroy” mission.

Yet, this year, as with the preceding 12, the news was good. Sun damage: Yes — in the form of such things as weathered skin and fractured capillaries across the nose. But cancer? No!

That’s 13 years of ‘search’ with no need to ‘destroy’! Before that, it had been at least one destroy mission each year to eradicate some small basal cell cancerous outcropping. In those years, I considered even that to be ‘lucky’ since the problem was not a squamous cell cancer or, heaven forbid, melanoma.

All this is most ironic, given the fact that I am in the business of formulating skin care products! Of course, one of the main reasons I AM in the business of skin care is that I knew I needed help. While I can’t say for certain that my clean bill of health from my dermatologist each of these past 13 years is because of the products I make, I don’t think it is just a coincident that when I started in 2000 to use my own products on myself, the ‘search & destroy’ missions stopped.

I have written many times over the past decade about the healing benefits of natural magnesium applied topically to the skin. Our use of magnesium and potassium in our creams and masques forms the hallmark of the Awakening brand. Supplementing the benefits of these minerals is the wide array of essential oils and botanical extracts that we also use. In my case, I am addicted to my own Awakening FACE&Neck and Awakening SUN, both of which are loaded with magnesium and both of which have SPF screens.

Therefore, I do what I do because I want to help people ‘do good’ by their skin. And I also do it for the benefit of my own family and for me! You might even say that I’m out to save my own skin! I am!

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Awakening Mineral Skin Care is a boutique formulator of nature-derived, vegan skin care products utilizing concentrated mineral crystals isolated from the Dead Sea, essential oils and botanical extracts. With only a few exceptions, we call our products by what they do: Awakening HANDS treats hands, Awakening FEET treats feet, Awakening BODY treats bodies, Awakening SCALP treats scalps — you get the idea. However Awakening MUDFace is mud for the face (and feet!) — so, as with 9th grade English, there are always exceptions to every rule!

By Rob Hardwicke, Product Master, Awakening Mineral Skin Care A rite of passage for many of us transitting from adolescence to adulthood has been doing battle with facial blemishes. In some cases, the battle can rage for years. For a very small unfortunate few, the battle, sadly, can be life long. A fellow resident in […]

A rite of passage for many of us transitting from adolescence to adulthood has been doing battle with facial blemishes. In some cases,

What teenager hasn’t done some sort of battle with a zit!?

the battle can rage for years. For a very small unfortunate few, the battle, sadly, can be life long.

A fellow resident in the small California town of Piedmont, Dr. Katie Rodan, has done substantial good in the field of dermatology and wrote an article a number of years ago entitled “How to Zap the Zits” — the inspiration for this post. One of my own posts back in 2008, “The Truth About Adult Acne — and 4 Easy Steps to Control It” laid out my thoughts for damage control in those cases where acne didn’t fade away with the end of adolescence, usually around age 20.

I was listening to a discussion this week on a national radio station about the role of bacteria in acne. The position by the commentator was that bacteria is the root cause of all acne evil. In my opinion, this was simply another bad rap for bacteria. Science keeps reporting on the ever-expanding role (and presence) of bacteria in & on our bodies. The presence of bacteria on the skin is entirely normal. Acne is the result of more than just bacteria. It’s a malfunction of the combination of the sebaceous gland in which the hair follicle resides (unless one is bald), and the hair itself. This combination is called the ‘pilosebaceous unit’, which are located pretty much everywhere on the skin — unless you happen to be a Wookie or a Hobbit. The absence of this unit is why you don’t have hair growing on your lower (vs upper) lip, the palms of your hands or the soles of your feet. Almost everywhere else on your body, these little units exist with hairs ranging from coarse, black wires to silky, transparent peachfuzz. The face, neck, shoulders and back are those areas with the greatest number of pilosebaceous units; hence, the areas with the greatest opportunity for screw ups.

Why screw ups? The sebaceous glands produce a semifluid excretion call ‘sebum’. The masterplan is that this sebum is the body’s natural moisturizing fluid for the skin — a beneficial oil of sorts that keeps the facial tissue (really, your skin no matter where it’s located on your body) healthy and disease-free. Sebum is chiefly a combination of fat, keratin and cellular material (or, in less flattering terms: ‘epithelial debris’). Sebum produced by your glands combines with cells being shed within the hair follicle until the follicle can’t hold any more of the stuff. When this happens, the sebum spreads out across the skin surface. When everything is working correctly, this spreading layer of oil is moisturizing — and therefore good.

So what about the bacteria? This is a critter called Propionibacterium acnes and lives naturally everywhere on your skin. These bacteria use sebum as their source of nutrition: Happy bacteria being furnished with an adequate supply of sebum to chew on.

But anyone who has raised an adolescent (human being) knows full well that adolescence can precipitate serious malfunction in the family household! So why not also on the skin? At the heart of nearly all of these problems are hormones (so what else is new?), also called androgens. Agruably, the more hormones, the more trouble. (When I myself was a teenager, I had always assumed that my high school colleagues with the most androgens were the ones who were over-sexed and consequently getting to spend all that time in the backseats of cars at the local drive-in movie studying biology, and that serious acne was simply God’s “Just Desserts” being visited upon them for having had way too much fun)!

More hormones cause the glands to produce more sebum. The sebum increases the bacteria herd, which in turn causes the body to sense trouble. The body responds by dispatching white blood cells to the trouble brewing around the follicles. The white blood cells, however, are aggressive warriors and can damage the walls of the follicles, which then results in leakage of the follicle sebum contents into the dermis. This then brings us back to the notion of the ‘epithelial debris’. Inflamation results, which then can lead to such nasty things as ‘papules’, ‘pustules’, ‘nodules’ and ‘comedones’ — all within the family known as ‘zits’ — a general free-for-all food fight of overfed bacteria and piles of uneaten sebum garbage gumming up the machinery of the pilosebaceous units.

So how to ‘zap ‘dem zits’? Clean up the battleground! Buy in to the habit of at least a nightly skin-washing routine. Use skin care products that help to clean out pilosebaceous units (‘pores’) and sweep up the dead skin cells constantly being sloughed off by the dermis. You also should eat right (a very, very tall order for adolescents) and work to stay calm. These are 3 of the ‘4 easy steps’ I identified in my 2008 blog posting for coping with even adult acne.

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Awakening Mineral Skin Care is a boutique formulator of nature-derived, vegan skin care products utilizing concentrated mineral crystals isolated from the Dead Sea, essential oils and botanical extracts. With only a few exceptions, we call our products by what they do: Awakening HANDS treats hands, Awakening FEET treats feet, Awakening BODY treats bodies, Awakening SCALP treats scalps — you get the idea. However Awakening MUDFace is mud for the face (and feet!) — so, as with 9th grade English, there are always exceptions to every rule!

By Rob Hardwicke, Product Master, Awakening Mineral Skin Care This is National Nurse’s Week. This week comes in May to commemorate the birth of Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing. Nursingworld.org is a source of good information. Ms. Nightingale devoted her entire life to care for the sick. In Victorian England, women with a […]

This is National Nurse’s Week. This week comes in May to commemorate the birth of Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing. Nursingworld.org is a source of good information.

Ms. Nightingale devoted her entire life to care for the sick. In Victorian England, women with a profession were not only in the minority, they were outside the bounds of proper society. Nurse Nightingale, fortunately for all of us today, could have cared less what society thought.

Why should a skin care company care about Florence Nightingale? Two reasons. 1) She was far ahead of her times with regard to her attitudes towards healthy living. In her Notes on Nursing, she wrote: “I use the word nursing for want of a better. It has been limited to signify little more than the administration of medicines and the application of poultices. It ought to signify the proper use of fresh air, light, warmth, cleanliness, quiet, and the proper selection and administration of diet — all at the least expense of vital power to the patient.” This was revolutionary stuff in the 1860’s! One need look only at a well-established hospital of the time, such as New York City’s 1700-bed David’s Island Hospital as the Civil War ramped up in 1862, to find an example utterly contrary to the precepts espoused by Ms. Nightingale!

Thanks in part to Ms. Nightingale’s principles, enterprises and efforts today emphasize healthy living — shopping at stores like Whole Foods Markets, avoiding known carcinogens, taking action to keep air & water clean, shedding extra pounds or getting an adquate amount of sleep each night.

The second reason we like Florence Nightingale is simple: 2) Nurses like us and we like nurses. Our best-selling product was developed on the inspiration of members of the nursing (and construction) staff at Stanford University Medical Center in the late 1990’s to deal with nurse dry hands. Even though hospitals across the U.S. routinely provide skin lotions at no cost to their nursing staffs, nurses still seek out our company to spend their hard-earned dollars on the mineral skin therapies that we produce. What better testimonial is there than that? If you have overworked, dry hands, feet and bodies, there are great solutions awaiting you.

Ms. Nightingale said, “It may seem a strange principle to enunciate as the very first requirment in a hospital that it should do the sick no harm.” Yet, that same admonition could just as easily apply to many in the skin care industry today. Just stroll down the cosmetics department aisle at even the best department stores in the U.S. — or the biggest of big box stores — and read the ingredients labels on the skin care products. The principle of ‘do the body no harm’ should apply.

Here’s a partial list of the nurse-related facebook Pages that we’ve ‘Liked’ from our own page at www.facebook.com/awakeningskincare: NurseTogether, Nurse-Family Patnership, The American Holistic Nurses Association, NursingLink, NurseConnect, National League for Nursing, NurseZone and the Emergency Nurses Association.

By Rob Hardwicke, Product Master, Awakening Mineral Skin Care The noun ‘nurse’ is defined as “someone who looks after, fosters or advises; a licensed health-care professional who is skilled in promoting and maintaining health.” The verb ‘nurse’ in its transitive form is defined as “to work to cure by care and treatment.” In Scripture, for […]

The noun ‘nurse’ is defined as “someone who looks after, fosters or advises; a licensed health-care professional who is skilled in

It's best to tend to tired, aching feet connected to nurses before they look like this! A Rule of Thumb: No skin = No good!

promoting and maintaining health.”

The verb ‘nurse’ in its transitive form is defined as “to work to cure by care and treatment.”

In Scripture, for folks so inclined, Luke 4:23 remonstrates: “Physician, heal thyself!” But so many do not. One of the truths about health-care professionals is that they’re so busily and selflessly attending to the needs of others, that their own health needs all too often take a back seat. They neglect their own health.

The nurse-focused website, nursetogether.com, is in the midst of polling nurses on the question of how many steps each may take in the course of a day. That little gizmo, the pedometer, is set for the length of a person’s stride and then proceeds to record the number of steps that person takes and the cumulative distance (generally in miles) traveled. Ten thousand steps seems to be the threshold for someone to be considered “active!” If that’s the threshhold of being active, I can just imagine the total steps logged by a really active nurse! No wonder so many nursing feet are basket cases by the end of a day (or night)(or day & night) shift!

To reinforce the fact that nurses can indeed do very effective things to “healeth themselves”, I recently wrote a small article about the virtues of mineral therapy for the health and happiness of abused and overworked feet for the nursetogether.com site. I laid out two courses of action: a 2-minute triage and a simple, 3-step, 12-minute intensive care session. I entitled the article, “Happy Feet for Nurses — Easy as 1, 2, 3!” The condensed version of my intensive case advice to nurses:

1. Apply a thin layer of Dead Sea mud to the feet and lower legs. Allow to dry for 8 minutes, then wash off. Not only will the magnesium tackle nails discolored and deformed by fungus, but the mud will exfoliate and detoxify the skin;

2. Apply small amount of a mineral-rich foot cream (if the formulation contains the herb arnica montaña, so much the better) to the feet. Not only will healing take place, but the feet take on a luxuriously silky softness as the balm absorbs into the skin leaving not a hint of greasiness;

3. Apply a ‘booster’ cream on top of the foot balm. Not only will circulation benefit but the skin retains the sensation of silky softness. Diabetics have registered their two-thumbs-up approval. The tingling, burning nuisances associated with neuropathy may even be lessened.

Three simple steps. Just natural materials applied to the body strategically with materials infused with the minerals of the Dead Sea and enhanced by essential oils and botanical extracts such as myrrh and lemongrass. “Where,” you ask, “might one find such efficacious products?” While not trying to be pushy, I’d suggest looking here!

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Awakening Mineral Skin Care is a boutique formulator of natural, vegan skin care products utilizing concentrated mineral crystals isolated from the Dead Sea, essential oils and botanical extracts. With only a few exceptions, we call our products by what they do: Awakening HANDS treats hands, Awakening FEET treats feet, Awakening BODY treats bodies, Awakening SCALP treats scalps — you get the idea. However Awakening MUDFace is mud for the face (and feet!) — so, as with 9th grade English, there are always exceptions to every rule!

By Rob Hardwicke, Product Master, Awakening Mineral Skin Care The old adage is that ‘beauty is in the eye of the beholder‘. What I may think of as beautiful may be butt-ugly in the opinion of my son (almost guaranteed!). Take architecture, for example: A great many people are devoted to the Bauhaus school of […]

The old adage is that ‘beauty is in the eye of the beholder‘. What I may think of as beautiful may be butt-ugly in the opinion of my son (almost guaranteed!). Take architecture, for example: A great many people are devoted to the Bauhaus school of

Aroma is in the Schnoz of the Beholder. 'Fragrance' to this critter's delicate nose may be 'Stench' to you.

modernist design originated with Walter Gropius in post-WWI Germany — simple, clean lines; whereas I’m fascinated by a form of Victorian architecture known as the Wretched Excess school — if one of something is good, then more is better — if you’re going to need a roof, then why not add two or three cupolas, a widow’s walk and a couple of gargoyles?

The great 19th century architect of skyscrapers, Louis Sullivan, promoted an overriding precept to architectural design: “Form follows function“: The shape of the structure should be determined by the structure’s intended use or function. The shape of a skyscraper should be vertical if you’re going to accommodate a very large number of office workers on a small plot of very valuable land.

In creating Awakening’s aromas, we took a page from the “form follows function” book. We went after the healing attributes of our aroma-bearing ingredients rather than after the aromas in and of themselves. Say what?

For example, we concocted the aroma base for Awakening HANDS to include ingredients that would prevent the growth of disease-causing organisms — in other words, something that would be antiseptic. In addition, we wanted ingredients that would suppress the itch response — in this case, astringents. What’s more, we wanted only natural substances derived from botanical versus animal sources. Consequently, we ended up formulating HANDS with the ancient antiseptic, myrrh, plus two natural astringents, ginger and cinnamon. Those were the two ‘functions” we were after. The resulting “form” — in this case, the “aroma” — was whatever came out of the process. In the case of HANDS, we were really fortunate that all three aroma ingredients produced a natural fragrance that is considered pleasant by about 98% of our customers. The inspiration for the ingredient combination in HANDS originated with my ex-cousin-in-law, Jon Eivers, as much as I would prefer to claim credit myself!

Even so, I did refine the mix — especially after one notriously vile batch of hand cream evaded the entirety of our quality control procedures and ended up on the U.S. market with an aroma comparable only to that of pig urine. To our customers who still remember this olfactic atrocity, I continue to offer my personal apologies! (The hand therapy still worked in awesome ways even if it did stink to high heaven).

Then again, the aroma of Awakening FEET is top-noted with lemongrass with undercurrents of orange, eucalyptus, peppermint and menthol. Given that FEET — before we added the lemongrasss — had found a very early market with reflexologists and massage therapists in Florida thanks to the efforts of a petite lady with hands of steel, Bette Gibson CMT, we quickly discovered that our original foot balm formula (again, without the lemongrass but with lots and lots of very volatile, very costly, very therapeutic essential oils) when applied to hot, sweaty feet in very humid, summertime Floridian conditions was causing reflexologists to keel over and drop like flies from the foot stink fumes! Kind of comparable to the fragrance that results from placing a head of cabbage in the trunk of your car for a 3-week trip across Texas during an August heatwave. So we added the lemongrass, and voila’, ‘problem solved‘!

The next time you purchase any Awakening product, just remember that you’re purchasing the successful end result of some very painful R&D experiences! But the end result is awesome. Because we absolutely refuse to test Awakening products on animals, this is why our friends & family are so important to us.

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Awakening Mineral Skin Care is a boutique formulator of natural, vegan skin care products utilizing concentrated mineral crystals isolated from the Dead Sea, essential oils and botanical extracts. With only a few exceptions, we call our products by what they do: Awakening HANDS treats hands, Awakening FEET treats feet, Awakening BODY treats bodies, Awakening SCALP treats scalps — you get the idea. However Awakening MUDFace is mud for the face (and feet!) — so, as with 9th grade English, there are always exceptions to every rule!

By Rob Hardwicke, President & Product Master — Awakening Mineral Skin Care Why should a skin care company for peoplebe concerned with horse grooming tips? The answer is simple: Because horses are a shared interest of ours. People who groom horses typically live, work & play in tough physical and weather conditions, so their own […]

Why should a skin care company for peoplebe concerned with horse grooming tips? The answer is simple: Because horses are a

Hooves/Heels. Hide/Skin. We're not all that different. We both need grooming.

shared interest of ours. People who groom horses typically live, work & play in tough physical and weather conditions, so their

own hide needs special handling! The products that we formulate are designed for people living and working in these sorts of conditions — challenging conditions.

What’s not to like about being out for a three-beat canter in Virginia’s horse country, riding the fence line in New Mexico or Montana on a day with a clear, blue sky, or surviving those six, loooooong chukkers on Florida’s First Coast?

Regardless of whether you’re involved with only one or perhaps even all of the above types of activity, your body — and not just that of your horse — is under the gun from many non-skin-friendly forces. Forces such as wind, polution, UVA and UVB radiation, low humidity. high humidity, cold, heat — and that totally nasty force on all of us — our age!

Although it’s a commercial site, Rio Vista’s presence on the web at horsegroomingsupplies has a nice collection of grooming tips. Here’s their tip on hoof health & grooming (and “yes”, we have had people comment that they’ve blended our foot balm, Awakening FEET, with Rio Vista’s Hoof Manicure with interesting results — talk about “off label” use of our “people” foot cream. But Rio Vista can relax; we’re absolutely not in the horse skincare or hoofcare biz!) :

Give your horse a solid foundation.
Inspect his hooves frequently.

There’s an old cowboy saying “no hooves, no horse.” If old paint doesn’t have a solid foundation you’ll be the one who walks the trail. To make sure your horse’s hooves are healthy, pick up his feet regularly and inspect them. If your horse has been standing in mud or water it can lead to cracked hooves.

Check for loose clinches. that’s the firs sign of a shoe about to pull. Call your farrier to reset the nail.

Watch for hairline cracks.If they spread up to the coronet band, they can seriously compromise the hoof’s integrity.

Get rid of unsightly slough around the coronet band. It’s a sign of dryness. Apply our Hoof Care Manicure and massage into the hairline.

Many horse owners have also discovered a secondary benefit of Hoof Manicure. It strengthens and promotes growth of your nails and softens rough spots anywhere on your body. It also helps relieve itching and has a great fragrance. So keep one in the house. For more information click here.

By Rob Hardwicke, Product Master, Awakening Mineral Skin Care It’s already Friday and the “Awakening Wednesday” post hasn’t yet happened. Time has the nasty habit of swamping both good intentions and bloggin’ editorial calendars — though I suppose I could procrastinate another 5 days and we’d be back on the Wednesday timetable again! Of course, […]

It’s already Friday and the “Awakening Wednesday” post hasn’t yet happened. Time has the nasty habit of swamping both good

Appreciated by a Most Discerning Sector of the Public

intentions and bloggin’ editorial calendars — though I suppose I could procrastinate another 5 days and we’d be back on the Wednesday timetable again!

Of course, there is a world out there where time — and just about every other conventional expectation — doesn’t matter. In that world, I could wait another six months for a Wednesday to roll around and still feel good about adhering to a schedule. This is a world served by Heckler Magazine — a magazine who’s tag line is “We bring nothing to the table“. A world of profoundly comfortable low expectations!

Heckler writes about the netherworld of snowboarding (and skateboarding). Having sold my own, beloved 1989 Burton Air 1 many, many moons ago, I have shed my image as a cutting-edge dinosaur of the slopes and, with it, any current understanding of snowboarding beyond what I see every four years during the Winter Olympics. But what I do understand is this: Peeps who read Hecker typically have skin! (Other traits of the readership which may or may not always be present might include such things as common sense, acceptable standards of personal hygiene, couth, or simply brains — all of which always can grow in over time). But as soon as skin becomes involved, my level of personal interest spikes.

When my colleagues and I were developing our early Awakening formulations, we concluded that we wanted products with no-nonense qualities — something we started calling by its technical name: “Non Fru-fru” (also known by the francophile polyglots amongst us as “Non-Foufou“). There couldn’t be a trace of sliminess. No scent of English roses or fetid floral concoction. Moreover, our formulations actually needed to DO something good for health of skin. Not just hype talk, but true action. Our packaging needed to be practical — something upon which one might sit accidentally and not soil one’s trousers or whatever apparel one might be wearing (and if one were wearing no apparel, one would have no business sitting upon our containers in the first place). While our targeted audience for our first formulations ended up being avid gardener and equestrian-oriented females, we eventually found our audiences expanding to include a remarkably diverse cross-section of humanity: outlaw bikers, docs, nurses, rockclimbers, bartenders and massage therapists as very substantial market niches (and, as my previous posting on “Greek Fat Wedding…” mentioned: Belgian Malinois und Dachsunds.

These are all people (and canines) who tend to work in extreme conditions: Grimy, dirty dirt (maybe ‘soil’ would be less redundant); grimy, dirty stables; grimy, dirty doghouses; grimy, dirty bars; grimy, dirty hospitals [just kidding!] and the like. Which brings me back to Heckler’s readership — extreme people who want & appreciate non Fru-fru feeling & smelling products that just happen to be “industrial strength”. In other words, the Awakening products that we so lovingly hand craft!

For those fortunate enough to live in the Lake Tahoe area of California/Nevada… [by the way, according to an official act of the California Legistature back in the 1850’s, the lake’s real name is “Lake Bigler” after the sodden 3rd governor of California, John Bigler. Given the good Governor’s reputation, this was a most controversial act; in fact, the Nevada Washoe Times editorialized, “If a lake of beer is discovered, Bigler will obviously be more suitable, but until that time arrives the native designation should be accepted”, but I digress] … and near Kings Beach, that noted emporium of avante garde apparel, Lakeview Threads, is now carrying a full array of Awakening mineral skin care products for the most discerning of Heckler-reading athletes. bohemians (and sociopaths).

By Rob Hardwicke, Product Master, Awakening Mineral Skin Care Anyone who was alive in 2002 likely has some fond recollection of the hit movie, My Big Fat Greek Wedding. One of mine was the use of Windex glass cleaner as the perfect, all-purpose remedy for all ailments. Have a zit? Spray it with Windex and […]

use of Windex glass cleaner as the perfect, all-purpose remedy for all ailments. Have a zit? Spray it with Windex and it’ll be gone by tomorrow. Rheumatism? Tired feet? Gum on the carpet? Sunburn? Night sweats? No problem! Just a spritz or two and the problem’s vanquished!

An avid consumer & supporter of Awakening recently caught my attention with her declaration, “Awakening’s my Windex“! She was worried, however, that I might be upset with her comparing our cherished boutique skin care formulations with a household cleanser. Far from it! To me, it was a glowing compliment — our hallmark formulations of natural potassium and magnesium, essential oils, herbs and extracts are the equivalent for her of a panacea!

We know from customer feedback that people are happy with Awakening HANDS to deal with everything from cracked fingers and chapped skin to eczema patches. They’re happy with Awakening FEET to boost peripheral circulation, soothe sore feet and zero-out even the most vile case of ‘boot aroma’! Massage therapists love Awakening BODY as an idea massage medium for deep tissue work — high viscosity, won’t clump or cling to body hair, won’t stain sheets or clothing! Our Awakening MUDFace masque exfoliates dead cells, detoxifies and hydrates, whether it’s applied to the face or the feet — body parts where it indeed is applied by at least one 5-star destination spa.

Yes, our friend was using Awakening as her “Windex” on all of the usual ‘destination’ problems. But the point she especially wanted to make with me was that Awakening Skin Care also qualified for “gold stars” in the veterinary “Windex” category!

The family pooch had had a history of allergies and irritations, and the resulting annual vet bill was in excess of a thousand bucks. Well, now for about $30 in our natural mineral skin care formulations, the dog was leading a serene, itch-free existence — and the vet bill had dropped to nearly zip. Wow! We’ve always been proud of our “cruelty-free” status based on the fact that we don’t test our products on animals — and I sure don’t think we’re jeopardizing our bragging rights with the fact that we now have a poodle, Pom or pug as a satisfied ‘patron’! “‘Hot spots?’ — we use HANDS“, our customer stated. “Flea bites?” — reach for the FEET!

The truth of the matter is that Mother Nature equipped most of us mammals with skin. So, what we do here at Awakening with that skin is a really, really good job of combining natural ingredients to make skin healthy and happy — whether it happens to be draped over one of my nephews, the neighbors two ravines removed from our homestead, or a pedigreed Belgian Malinois!

I now can report to Awakening’s shareholders that our natural, mineral skin care products have gone to the dogs!